Machines



(Model. 4 Sheets-Shet 1.

W. H. CARE 8: P. W. OSTROM.

BUTTON HOLE ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 303,861. Patented Aug. 12, 1884.

Wifnesses Inventors:

7 %/%f %M s fifiiz A PETERS. Phckrhthagmplwr Wzxhing'um D Q (Model.) 4SheetsSheet 2.

W. H. CARR & F. W. OSTROM.

BUTTON HOLE ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 303,361 Patented Aug. 12, 1884.

Witnesses: I nve ntor's:

(ModeL) 4 SheetsSheet 3. W. H. CARR & P. W. OSTROM.

v BUTTON HOLE ATTACHMENT FOB. SEWING MACHINES. No. 303,361.

Patented Aug. .12, 1884'.

I Witnesses:

Mx. M

(ModeL) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. W. H. CARR & F. W. OSTROM.

BUTTON HOLE ATTAGHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES. No. 303,361. Patented Aug;'12, 1884.

INV NTORS m 7 527% @W. l a 2 K d I I Wflttorneys Unrrnn STATES FFIQEQAranr \VILLIAM HENRY CARR, OF LANSINGBURG, AND FREELAND \V. OSTROM, OFTROY, NEV YORK; SAID GARE ASSIGNOR TO SAID OSTROM.

BUTTON-HOLE ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 303,361, dated August12, 1884.

Application filed June 1, 1882. (ModeL) F0 (035 whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, \VILLIAM HENRY CARR, of the village of Lansingburg,county of Rensselaer, and State of New York, and FREE- LAND W. Os'rnorr,of the city of Troy, State and county aforesaid, have jointly invented anew and useful Improvement in Button-Hole Attachments forSewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to those attachments to sewing-machines which areactuated to move the fabric around and beneath the needle to sew thesides and ends of a button-hole, and more particularly to that kind ofdevices belonging to this class which are constructed with acloth-carrying mechanism arranged tovibrate and move the fabric back andforth beneath the traverse of the needle in a T-form guide-bar to sewthe sides of the buttonhole, and with which the fabric-carryingmechanism and guide-bar are connectedly moved outwardly and inwardly tosew each of the ends of the button-hole.

Forming a part of this specification are four plates of drawings,containingten figures, and in all of which illustrations the samedesignation of parts by letter-reference is used.

Figure 1 shows a plan view of the mechanism and its connection with across cam-groove 011 the driving-shaft of the machine by which it isactuated. Fig. 2 shows a plan view of the ratchet-wheel and a peripheralcam-wheel,

the latter being beneath the former, the ratchet-wheel being shownsmaller in proportion than in the other illustrations, to betterillustrate the manner of connecting a cam-grooved wheel to the underside of the peripheral camwheel by means of a slot formed in the latterand a set-screw. Fig. 3 is a perspective of the under side of acam-groovedwheel and pe ripheral cam-wheel, these parts being shown asremoved from their attachment, turned over, and somewhat enlarged inproportion to better illustrate them. Fig. 4 is a diametrical verticalsection taken through the ratchet wheel,peripheral cam-wheel, andcam-grooved wheel. Fig. 5 illustrates in perspective the upper side ofthe canrgrooved wheel separated from its attachment. perspective theunder side of the peripheral Fig. 6 shows in cam as appearing whenseparated from its connection with the other parts and turned over. Fig.7 shows in a plan view the mechanism with the ratchet-wheel removed, theposition of the T-form guide-bar being indicated by a 5 5 dotted line,the pawls which actuate the ratchet-wheel being thrown back. Fig. Sis aplan view of the mechanism with the ratchet-wheel, peripheral cam-wheel,cam-grooved wheel, switch-lever, and connecting bar removed. Fig. 9 isavertical section taken on the line 00 w of Figs. 1, 7, and S. Fig. 10 isa plan view of a portion of a sewing-machine table, showing thearrangement of the attachment relative to the main shaft of thesewing-machine.

The several parts of which our invention is composed "and the ordinaryparts of a sewingmachine with which they connect are designated byletter-reference as follows:

The letter A. indicates the sewing-machine shaft; a a, the ordinarycross-grooved cam secured thereto, and c the switch.

The letter B indicates the lever to which the switch is pivoted at c atone end and at the other end at b; Said lever is pivoted to a stud 011the table, this lever having formed in an offset on its side the slot b\V hen the shaft A is turned, this lever is caused to reciprocate on itspivotal connection made with the table at b.

The letter 0 indicates a connecting-bar constructed to receive andtransmit reciprocating motion from the lever B by being connected withthe latter in the slot 2) by means of a pivot and setscrew at a", withthe measure of its received and transmitted motion regu- ,lated by therelative position at which one of its ends is pivotally placed in 'theslot b the other end of this connecting-bar being pivoted 0 to thecrosshead D at 0,the center of the attachment. 1

The letters D 1) indicate the frame sides in which the vibrating orreciprocating parts of the mechanism move the guideways being 5 formedon the inner sides of this frame, as designated at d d in Fig. 9, and inFigs. 1, 7 and 8 by the dotted line (1 d.

The letter D indicates one of the crossheads of the reciprocatingmechanisn1,to a pro- I00 jection on which the connectingbar O ispivoted. D is the cross-head at the opposite end of the reciprocatingmechanism. Both of these cross-heads move in the guides d (1, when thecross-heads and the parts with which they connect are reciprocated bymeans of the connection made with the bar 0. The cross-heads D and D arecentrally connected by the bar D, and this latter has formed in itlongitudinally a guideway for the short arm of the T- form bar T, thelines of this guideway being indicated by the letters z" The short armof the T-form bar, as indicated at t, as an extension or rod, E, whichhas a shoulder or collar, 6, and encircling the extension between thesaid collar and the cross-head D is a spiral spring, e'*,which acts toforce the said frame T in one direction-vim, to force the pin a thereonagainst the largest part of the camwheel-and the extent of movement ofthe frameT under the action of the said spring being limited by a stop,0, shown as an adjustable nut placed on the extension or red E, as shownin the drawings.

The letter F denotes the cloth-carrier, and

f the opening for the vertical passage of the needle. The cloth-carrieris connected to the under side of the guide-bar Gr, which is constructedto move back and forth in the bar T in a slot in the top, and a groovein the bottom or under side of said bar, a portion of the lat ter beingprojected upwardly within the slot, the latter being indicated at g g,and the upward extension of the guide-bar being indicated at g, with thecam-pin thereon, by which the guide-bar and connected carrier areactuated,is designated at 2 This attachment of the cloth-carrier andguide-bar and the construction of the groove in the'bottom and the slotin the top of the bar T, and also that of the cam -'pin attached to thebar and connected carrier, is the same as that shown and describedin theapplication of XVilliam Henry Carr, filed in the Patent Office on the24th day of December, 1881, Serial No. 48,652, and relating tobutton-hole attachments to sewingmachines.

The letter H indicates a ratchet-wheel, and S its vertical shaft securedto the arm a by the set-screw a.

The letter J designates a cam-wheel, having in its perimeter thecamsnrface h, and at Ma slot that is radially placed in said wheel J,andat haset-screw. On the under side of this peripheral cam-wheel thereis constructed from center to circumference an outwardlyprojectedtonguingpiece, indicated at h". (See Fig. 6.)

The letter. K designates a disk-wheel, which has upon its under side aheart-shaped camgroove, k, which is eccentrically formed thereon. Thecenter of this wheel K is slotted for the passage of the vertical shaftS at W, and its upper surface is grooved radially at 7L5 to receive thetonguing-piece h" on the periph eral cam-wheel J. This cam-grooved wheelK is tapped and threaded at k to receive the set-screw h on thecam-wheel J and this wheel K is not attached to the shaft S, but to theunder surface of the peripheral cam-wheel J, as before described, bymeans of the tonguing-piece h" and the set-screw 011 the latter wheel,and the groove and tap-hole in the top of the cam-grooved wheel K. Asthese two wheels are thus connected, the measure of eccentricity atwhich the heart-shaped camgroove 7s acts may be varied. The cam-pin g onthe cloth-carrier guidebar and the connected cloth-carrier F are movedback and forth by the engagement of this cam-pin g" with theheart-shaped cam-groove k, when the wheel in which the latter .isconstructed rotates, and these features of construction and arrangementare the same herein as those shown and described in the application ofVilliam Henry Carr, filed December 24, 1881, and before alluded to, ourimprovement thereon, as herein shown, relating to these features ofconstruction, being the method of increasing or diminishing the distancetraveled by the cam-groove and the engagingpin on the carrier-guide byvarying the eccentricity of the can1-groove 7c, and thus to make alonger or shorter button-hole with the same device.

The peripheral cam-wheel J has construct-ed upon its perimeter thecam-surface h", the terminal ends of which, as designated at S and S",are curved inwardly and gradually to join another portion of the wheelscireumference which is nearer to the rotating center of the wheel thanthe surface 7L2. Upon the short arm of the bar T there is constructed aprojecting cam-pin, a", which, when the wheel J is rotated at intervals,engages with the cam-surface h at S to force the bar T and the connectedcloth-carrier toward and against the force of the spring 6', arranged onthe bar E between the cross-head D and the fixed collar or shoulder aand to so hold these connected parts in position while the wheel J isturning and the cam h" and the pin a are in engage ment. \Vhen thisengagement ceases and the pin 02 on the bar T commences to move along011 the inwardly and gradually curved surface S the spring 0 forces thecloth-carrying mechanism back to its former position as the wheelcontinues to turn, until in its rotation the pin M and cam If againcommence to engage, when said cam moves the connected parts against theforce of the spring, as before described. The relative measure ofdistance as to how far the cloth-carrying mechanism shall be moved backand forth by the cam 71? and the pin 06", and where forced back to afterthe latter have ceased to engage, is regulated by the stop 6*, beforedescribed, on the end of the bar E.

The ratchet-wheel H is actuated to turn one or more teeth at everyrevolution of the sewing-machine shaft by means of its reciprocatingengagement with the push-pawl P or the hook-pawl P, or by both combined.

The

pawls P and P are made adjustable in the measure of their pawlengagement with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel by means of theirattachment in the slots p constructed in the angular levers p p", to oneof which each pawl is pivoted, the angular levers being also pivoted tothe studs on the table designated at p. Thus by moving the pivoted endsof the pawls outwardly or inwardly at their pivotal connection with theslots .19 the measure of motion communicated to the ratchet-wheel H ateach revolution of the sewing-machine shaft may be increased ordiminished. WVhere two pawls are employed, they are connected by aspiral spring, as shown at t. WVhere but one is used, a single spring isconnected with the pawl, as indicated at i It will be observed byreference to Figs. 1, 7, 8, and 10 of the drawings that the attachmentis built over the main shaft of the sewing-machine in such a manner thata greater portionabout twothirdsof the width of the frame-work of theattachment will be on one side of the main shaft, and that theswitchlever B is arranged over the cam-wheel on the main shaft, and ispivotally connected to the center of the cross-head D by the bar or link0, so as to secure a center draft on the movable parts of theattachment,.thereby doing away with the intermediate lever required tomake the connection, as heretofore.

Oonnectedly these several parts constituting our invention operate inthe following manner:' As the whole mechanism, consisting of thecloth-carrier, connected sliding bar G, bar T, cam-grooved wheel,peripheral cam-wheel, and ratchet-wheel, together moving by means of theconnected cross-heads D D in the slides d d, are caused to reciprocatethrough connection with the drivingshaft, as before described, thefabric held by the carrier is reciprocatingly moved over the aperturemade in the table-plate for the descent of the needle, so that thelatter makes a puncture at the end of each movement in reciprocating,and intermediately forms a stitch. While this is being done in repeatedsequence, the ratchetwheel being actuated to turn, by reason of its pawlengagement, also moves the peripheral canrwheel and the attached wheelwhich has on its under side the heart-shaped cam-groove k, and withinthe latter the cam-pin g, which is on the carrier-guide G, and also theconnected carrier and fabric, so as to thus form a row of stitches alongthe side of the buttonhole while this cam-pin is thus being moved alongand in one side of the heart-shaped camgroove. When this has been done,and while the cam-pin is passing the flattened end of the heart-shapedgroove is, the peripheral cam Jr on the wheel J, as the latter rotates,begins to engage with the pin-a on the'bar T, and so as to move themechanism and fabric from the top of the line of stitching already sewedon one side of the button-hole around the end beneath the needlestraverse to sew this end in ing side of the buttonhole.

the cam-pin g is being returned along and through the other side oftheheart-shaped camgroove as the wheel K turns, the mech anism thusconnected is held in position against the force of the spring 6 on thebar E, and the fabric moved in return to sew the remain WVhen this hasbeen done, and the pin a, by the rotation of the wheel J, commences topass the curve B, the spring 6* forces back the mechanism. and while thepin a is passing the curve S of the cam If the fabric is moved so as tosew the re maining end.

If desired, the curves S S may be constructed of a reversing doubleogeeform, as indicated by the dotted lines a a at Fig. 2, to eyelet the endsof the button-hole.

WVhen it is desired to increase the length of the button-hole, thecamgrooved wheel K is diametrically moved outwardly on the line of itsadjustable connection with the lower side of the wheel J, the latterbeing attached to the ratchet-wheel, and actuated to turn with thelatter on the vertical shaft S, thus mov ing outwardly the camgroovedwheel K and increasing its eccentricity and the distance to which itmoves the cam-pin g on the carrierguide. This eccentricity can bereduced by moving inwardly on the line of its attachment the cam-groovedwheel. The engaging campin 9 then moves a shorter distance, andconsequently a shorter button-hole is made. As the heartshapedcam-groove made diametri cally adjust-able to the combined peripheralcam-wheel and ratchet-wheel, arranged to turn together on the samevertical shaft, will,

in combination with an engaging-pin, if, on

the short arm of the barT, and a cam-pin on the carrierguide whenactuated by the ratchetwheel to intermittently turn, move the fabric sowithin the line of the needles traverse as to sew the sides and ends ofa buttonhole. \Ve do not limit our invention of this combination ofelements as arranged to its further combination with the spring 6* onthe bar E, employed to regulate the measure of distance between the rowsof stitches forming the side of the button-hole. I

The distance between the two rows of stitches forming the sides of thebutton-hole may be increased by screwing outwardly the stop 6 011 theend of the bar E, and the width between said rows reduced byrunninginwardly this stop 6 on the bar E.

As the ratchet-wheel and the peripheral canrwheel must be connected andconstructed so as to move together on the same vertical shaft, they may,if desired, be made in one piece instead of two parts, aswe have shownand described them as formed, provided snbstantially the same relativeadjustment of the eam-grooved wheel is produced and the equivalentconstruction of the peripheral cam retained.

Having thus described our invention, what IIO We claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Pattent, is

1. In an attachment to sewing-machines for sewing button-holes, thecombination of an attached ratchet wheel and peripheral camwheel,constructed so as to be actuated to turn together upon the same verticalshaft, awheel having on its under side a heart-shaped camgroove, andconstructed to be diametrically adjustably secured to the under surfaceof the combined peripheral cam and ratchet-wheel, and a cam-pin on thefabric-carrier guide constructed to engage with said heart-shapedcamgroove, substantially as and for the purposes herein described andset forth.

2. In an attachment to sewing-machines for sewingbutton-holes, thecombination of acornbincd ratchet wheel and peripheral camwheel, avertical shaft constructed for the latter to turn on, a wheel havingonits under side a heart-shaped cam-groove, and which last named wheelis constructed to be diametrically adjustably secured to the under sideof said combined ratchet-wheel and peripheral camwheel, a canrpin-in thecloth-carrier guide, constructed to engage with said heart-shapedcam-groove, and a cam-pin 011 the short arm ot'thc bar T, constructed toengage intermit iently with said peripheral cam-wheel, as and for thepurposes herein set forth.

an adjustable stop to determine the amount of 0 movement of the said barby the said spring, substantially as and for the purpose described. 4.I11 an attachment for sewing button-holes, the peripheral cam-wheel, acloth-clamp, and its actuating-bar T, provided with a cam-pin adapted tobe acted upon by the said camwheel, combined with a spring to move thesaid bar in one direction, and an adjustable stop to determine theextent of movement of the said cloth-clamp and bar T under the action ofthe said spring, substantially as described.

Signed at Troy, N. Y., this 24th day of May, 1882.

XVILLIAM HENRY CARR. FREELAND \V. OSTROM.

XVitnesses:

CHARLES S. BRINTNALL, JUsTIN KELLOGG.

